Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) Choi Hwi-young visited the Game Talent Institute and the Global Game Hub Center in Pangyo on the morning of the 24th to meet with game company representatives and discuss the new administration's game policy direction.

In his first field visit to the game industry since taking office, the roundtable was attended by NEXON CEO Kim Jung-wook, KRAFTON CEO Kim Chang-han, Netmarble CEO Kim Byung-gyu, NCSoft CEO Park Byung-moo, and Smilegate CEO Sung Joon-ho.

The meeting also included indie game company representatives such as RoadComplete CEO Bae Soo-jung, known for 'Legend of Slime'; Wonder Potion CEO Yoo Seung-hyun, developer of the Korea Game Award-winning 'SANABI'; and The Bricks Game CEO Lee Hye-rin, creator of the socially conscious functional game '30 Days'.

Representing industry associations, Korea Association of Game Industry Chairman Cho Young-gi and Korea Mobile Game Association Vice Chairman Kim Hyun-gyu were also in attendance.

Attendees noted that the global game market is rapidly restructuring due to growth in China and Southeast Asia, and that the Korean game industry faces new changes and challenges with the emergence of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI). They collectively emphasized that the government's commitment and strategy to foster the game industry are more important than ever.

In particular, they requested tax support, such as introducing tax credits for game production costs similar to those for film and webtoons, expanding fund investments across the entire game ecosystem from large companies to indie developers, strengthening support for diversifying export countries, and establishing new support for the AI transformation (AX) of game production environments.

Minister Choi Hwi-young stated, "I also worked as a CEO in the game industry 20 years ago, and I feel immense pride in the significant industrial achievements made since then. Furthermore, if film was the cultural art of the 20th century, I believe games are the cultural art of the 21st century. The potential for games to lead the axis of cultural arts remains wide open."

Minister Choi added, "The Ministry will promote various policies to serve as a catalyst for new growth, ensuring that K-Games remain a leading force in ushering in the 300 trillion won K-Culture era."